Palladium Books® Weekly Update – March 6, 2014

By Kevin Siembieda

Sorry, out sick, so this one will be short. Hopefully, I’ll be back up and working by the middle of next week. The guys are keeping things moving along. My thanks to the strong support you guys and gals showed for the The Rifter® Super-Subscription Deal that ended last weekend. I think we are at near record number of subscribers this year. Cool. I will be back working on Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two and other projects as soon as I am back on my feet. Here’s a bit of what’s going on.

UPDATE: Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two

Wow is this book epic. Wayne Smith, Chuck Walton, Alex Marciniszyn and I were working on Saturday till midnight. The excitement is high and Wayne has already begun to layout the first half of the book. In fact you can get a sneak preview of it on DriveThruRPG.com right now. Free, of course.

With me knocked out, finishing the last part of the book has been stalled. Sorry. I’ll be back to it as soon as I can.

Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two Sneak Preview – available now on DriveThruRPG.com

Can’t wait to dive into Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two? Well, here’s an advance look at just some of what you can expect to see in NG-2. We hope it’s a little something to hold you over.

There are FREE previews on DriveThruRPG.com for Rifts® Northern Gun™ One, Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook,Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms™ (Revised Edition), Rifts® Black Market,Rifts® Lemuria, The Rifter® #65,Dragons and Gods™, Dead Reign™ RPG, Endless Dead™ sourcebook and others, too. Plus we plan to add other sneak previews. Btw, the original Rifts® Vampire Kingdoms World Book is also available as a PDF on DriveThruRPG, for those of you who may be interested. More are coming.

UPDATE: Heroes Unlimited™30th Anniversary Hardcover Edition

Heroes Unlimited™ 30th Anniversary Hardcover continues to sell well and is being enjoyed. Available now at $40 while supplies last. Destined to be a collector’s item. The old hardcover sells for $200-$350 on the secondary market.

At the printer and scheduled for an April release. Meanwhile, pre-orders for Palladium Fantasy, 2nd Edition HC continue to come in faster than they did for Heroes Unlimited™. I’m glad I decided to print a few more copies (450, the same as its catalog number). I decided it wasn’t fair to leave out Palladium Fantasy®, so we are printing 450 copies of the 30th Anniversary Palladium Fantasy RPG®, 2nd Edition hardcovers as an April release. And boy am I glad I did. Enjoy. You can start placing your pre-orders now. See the full description elsewhere in this Weekly Update or in our online store. Note: This is the Palladium Fantasy RPG, Second Edition, all exactly the same as the current printing.

UPDATE: Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames

This is the book we all dive into as soon as NG-2 is at the printer. The artwork is looking great.

UPDATE: Dead Reign™: Graveyard Earth™ Sourcebook

Manuscript should be in next week. We hunger for it. Must feed . . .

UPDATE: Robotech®: Expeditionary Force Marines Sourcebook

It’s not forgotten. Still looking at a spring release. And it will be epic.

UPDATE: Robotech® RPG Tactics™

Jeff has finished up the color guide artwork and is going over box corrections, Wayne is about to start laying out the color guide, and we’re all eagerly awaiting the arrival of some new prototype pieces. We’re getting there.

Sorry this is a such a short Weekly Update. Need to go back to sleep and recovery. I’ll try to do more next week. Have a good weekend. I’ll spend it recovering, I promise. Meanwhile, keep those imaginations burning bright and game on.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer, Game Designer

NEW! Heroes Unlimited™30th Anniversary Hardcover Edition – only $40 while supplies last – available now

The Heroes Unlimited™ RPG turns 30 years old this year. To celebrate, Palladium is releasing a special, commemorative, Heroes Unlimited™ 30th Anniversary Hardcover, for only $40. Available now. The original HU2 hardcover sold for $50 and has since become a collector’s item that sells for $200-$350 on the secondary market.

To preserve the value of the “original” Heroes Unlimited™ Gold Hardcover Edition, we have made the HU2 30th Anniversary Edition as visibly different (and cool) looking on the outside as possible. The material used for the cover is different (not leatherette), the color is a lighter shade of blue, and although the cover is imprinted in gold foil, it features artwork depicting a superhero and the words “Special 30th Anniversary Edition.” Even the spine is different looking, and the end sheets are red and without art. The red,white and blue combination represents the United States of America, the birthplace of superhero comic books, and the colors of costumed heroes.

All the elements described above should make the Heroes Unlimited™ 30th Anniversary Hardcoverimpossible to mistake for the original HU2 signed and numbered HC edition. We have kept the price an unprecedented, low $40 for a hardcover Gold Edition of this size. We want to give Heroes Unlimited™ fans a crack at purchasing one before the price skyrockets on the secondary collectors’ market. Enjoy and game on!

Limited to 400 signed and numbered copies.

Signed and numbered on the credits page by Kevin Siembieda and the Palladium staff. We’ll try to get an artist or two to sign as well.

Blue fabric cover with gold foil imprinting. A completely new and different cover than the original HU2 Gold Edition.

Interior pages are exactly the same as the original HU2 HC and the current softcover edition.

Create any type of hero and superhuman – aliens and mutants to super-soldiers, martial artists, mages and Mega-Heroes.

100+ super abilities, plus scores of sub-powers.

100+ magic spells plus Enchanted (Magical) Weapons and Objects.

40+ psionic abilities.

Super-Vehicles, high-tech hardware, in-depth characters and more.

Written by Kevin Siembieda. Cover art by Michael Wilson.

352 pages – ONLY $40 retail from Palladium Books only – Cat. No. 5000HC. Available NOW! Order yours today.Note: The price is only $40 to celebrate the proud event of HU2's 30th Anniversary and make sure the hardcover is accessible to our core fan base. Enjoy.

It doesn’t seem fair to offer a Heroes Unlimited™ Hardcover Edition and not one for Palladium Fantasy®, so Rifter® subscribers were the first to get the news that Palladium is releasing a Palladium Fantasy® Special 30th Anniversary Hardcover in April. The Palladium Fantasy RPG® was released in June of 1983, so technically, the Fantasy Game is still 30 years old until June.

The original Crimson Edition hardcover sold for $50 and has since become a collector’s item that sells for $250-$400 on the secondary market. The special, commemorative, 30th Anniversary Hardcover in April will sell for only $40.

To preserve the value of the “original” Palladium Fantasy RPG® Crimson Edition Hardcover, we have made the 30th Anniversary Edition as visibly different looking on the outside as possible. The material used for the cover is a brown leatherette imprinted with “Elemental Green”foil, different art on the cover, and the words “Special 30th Anniversary Edition.” Even the spine is different looking and the end sheets are without artwork.

All the elements described above should make the Palladium Fantasy RPG® 30th Anniversary Hardcoverimpossible to mistake for the original signed and numbered HC edition. The price is $40 (while supplies last), low for a limited edition of its size. We want to give Fantasy fans a crack at purchasing one before the price skyrockets on the secondary collectors’ market.

Second Edition rules. There has been some confusion among fans as to whether this hardcover edition is First or Second Edition rules. It is SECOND Edition rules, exactly the same as the current material in the softcover book.

Limited to 450 signed and numbered copies.

Signed and numbered on the credits page by Kevin Siembieda and the Palladium staff.

Brown leatherette cover with Elemental Green foil imprinting. A completely different cover than the original Crimson Edition.

The Palladium Fantasy hardcover is exactly the same as the ‘current’ printing of the softcover edition; Second Edition rules.

336 pages – ONLY $40 retail from Palladium Books only – Cat. No. 4500HC – available for pre-order – ships April. Sorry, this product is not available in stores. Note: The price is only $40 to celebrate the proud event of Palladium Fantasy’s 30 years of continuous publication and make sure the hardcover is accessible to our core fan base. Enjoy.

A complete role-playing game with many sourcebooks.

Palladium Fantasy® – celebrating 30 years of wonder.

NEW! The Rifter® #65 – Available now

The Rifter® #65 is all about the secrets of power. In some cases, dark secrets: 60 new Necromancy spells and magic for Rifts® and other settings, the power of the Soul Merchant for BTS™, rising to power within the Black Market for Rifts®, a Chaos Earth® short story, and for Heroes Unlimited™, a band of superhumans, robotics and gadgets. Plus news, coming attractions, and more.

Every issue of The Rifter® is an idea factoryfor players and Game Masters to generate new ideas, and find new avenues of adventure. It provides useful, ready to go, source material you can just drop into your ongoing games. A doorway to new possibilities and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. And the many new characters, O.C.C.s, powers, magic, weapons, villains, monsters, adventures and ideas for one setting can be easily adapted to any Palladium setting. Every issue has material for Rifts® and at least 2-3 other Palladium game lines.

The Rifter® Number 65 includes:

Heroes Unlimited™ – Once More unto the Breach – by Alex Tulloch. A band of super-beings and their motives.

Beyond the Supernatural™ – Hollow Road Adventure – by Anthony Uyl. Evil takes unexpected forms in the pursuit of power. An adventure in which the players will discover that the local townsfolk can be just as evil as the Supernatural in their pursuit of power.

Rifts® – Black Market – Rise to Power, Part One – by Max Kautsch. Source material on the Black Market and one Faction’s bid for power.

RECENT RELEASE: The Rifter® #64 – Available now

The Rifter® #64 is our annual horror issue and includes:

Rifts® – The Black-Malice Legacy, Part II – by Matt Olfson and Will Hunter. Source material about the Coalition States’ psionic operatives and technology, including squad formation and new psychic martial art classes for special operatives in CS Psi-Battalion.

Rifts® Short Story – A Cold Night, Dead Past by Brett Caron.

Dead Reign™ source material by Jeff Duncan. New Survivor Occupations and related skills set in the Zombie Apocalypse.

Nightbane® source material by Bryant Telfer. A new class of mystical wanderer and Nightbane.

Palladium Fantasy® Adventure by Michael Osborne. Play Giant characters or pint-sized humans who invade the lairs of Trolls and evil beings in control of dark magic.

Like knights mounted on motorcycles, the Road Reapers travel the wasteland that Earth has become, searching for survivors, fighting zombies and waging war against the Death Cults that threaten all mankind.

This epic sourcebook explores the nature of heroes and heroism in the Zombie Apocalypse. It contains the secrets of the fabled Road Reapers, their structure, leadership, missions and purpose, as well as gear and combat notes. Plus a horrifying new zombie known as the Terror Zombie, plus Floaters (zombies in water) and which zombies can swim. Survival is one thing. Can you keep your humanity and be a hero?

Comprehensive background on the legendary Road Reapers™ – zombie hunters and heroes of the Zombie Apocalypse.

NEW! Rifts® World Book 34: Northern Gun™ Two – February 2014

In production! Expanded to 192-224 pages and filled with all kinds of adventuring gear: New environmental body armor, power armor, hovercycles, robot drones, robot haulers, combat vehicles, other vehicles, robot gladiators and much more. More information about the weapons, vehicles and practices of Northern Gun, including the new rage of robot gladiatorial combat. Expanded page count. Epic adventure.

NEW! Rifts® World Book 35: Megaverse® in Flames™ – March, 2014

The Minion War spills across Rifts Earth, where demons and infernals hope to recruit allies and use the Rifts as gateways of destruction. Their influence shakes things up across the planet, especially at locations where demons and Deevils already have a strong presence. Demons, Deevils and supernatural beings run rampant and wreak havoc across the world.

Demon plagues and mystic blights.

Soulmancy and Blood Magic revealed.

Magical and demonic weapons and war machines.

Demonic armies, strongholds and places of evil.

Hell Pits and Rune Forges.

Many Demon Lords, their minions and plans.

Calgary, the Kingdom of Monsters; in detail.

Ciudad de Diablo, Harpies’ Island and other notable Hell holes on Earth.

Lord Doom, Pain and other demonic leaders.

Horune treachery, Dimension Stormers and other villains.

Notable demonic generals, mercenaries, people and places.

Battleground: Earth – as demons and infernals amass their legions.

Global chaos and the places most dramatically affected by the Demon Plagues.

Robotech® RPG Tactics™ – Game Description – Coming Spring 2014

This is the game Robotech® fans have wanted for decades.

Robotech® RPG Tactics™ is a fast-paced, tabletop combat game that captures the action and adventure of the Robotech® anime. Two or more players can engage in small squad skirmishes or scale up to massive battles. Relive the clashes of the First Robotech War, engage in stand-alone tactical games, or use the dynamic game pieces to enhance your Robotech® RPG experience. Or simply collect your favorite mecha from an expanding range of top-notch game pieces.

Mecha vs Mecha. Take command of the fighting forces of the United Earth Defense Force (UEDF) valiantly defending Earth from alien annihilation. Or lead the massive clone armies of the Zentraedi Armada to recover an alien artifact of immense power and enslave humankind.

Robotech® RPG Tactics™ Box Set – Cat. No. 55100

Brought to you by Palladium Books®, created with Ninja Division (the creative minds behind Soda Pop Miniatures and Cipher Studios).

Not a toy. Small parts, choking hazard. Not recommended for children under the age of 13. Adult supervision advised.

Cat. No. 55203 – $32.95 retail. Note: Pricing and content may be subject to some minor changes, but that is NOT anticipated.

Zentraedi Regult Battlepod Squadron

Expand your Zentraedi forces with their main infantry battle mecha; six figures total.

6 Regult Tactical Battlepods – the lightning quick Regults, armed with a pair of particle cannons and auto-cannons, attack in wave after wave.

Plastic game pieces. Models require assembly and painting.

Not a toy. Small parts, choking hazard. Not recommended for children under the age of 13. Adult supervision advised.

Cat. No. 55401 – $36.95 retail. Note: Pricing and content may be subject to some minor changes, but that is NOT anticipated.

Zentraedi Support Battlepods

Give your Zentraedi legion greater firepower with these artillery and support Battlepods; four figures total.

4 Zentraedi Support Battlepods, each of which can be made into any of the following:Gluuhaug-Regult – Light Artillery BattlepodSerauhaug-Regult – Heavy Artillery BattlepodTelnesta-Regult – Experimental Particle Beam BattlepodFour figures total.

Plastic game pieces. Models require assembly and painting.

Not a toy. Small parts, choking hazard. Not recommended for children under the age of 13. Adult supervision advised.

Cat. No. 55402 – $36.95 retail. Note: Pricing and content may be subject to some minor changes, but that is NOT anticipated.

1 Quel-Gulnau Recovery Pod – enhances the Glaug’s ability to bring in Battlepod reinforcements. Note: This figure has NEVER before been offered by any company.

Plastic game pieces. Models require assembly and painting.

Not a toy. Small parts, choking hazard. Not suitable for children under the age of 13. Adult supervision advised.

Cat. No. 55403 – $36.95 retail. Note: Pricing and content may be subject to some minor changes, but that is NOT anticipated at this time.

Robotech® Macross® Saga Sourcebook – New Size

Available now – 8½ x 11 size

All the famous mecha and action of Robotech® starts here with the Macross® Saga when an alien armada enters Earth orbit. They have come to reclaim a lost spacecraft that crash-landed on Earth 10 years earlier. A space fortress that Earth’s protectors have rebuilt into their own flagship against alien invasion. The resulting conflict gives birth to heroes and becomes the stuff of legend, but the Earth will never be the same. Robotech® The Macross® Saga Sourcebook is now available as an 8½ x 11 inch sourcebook.

Note: This is the setting for Robotech® RPG Tactics™, so if you’re looking for more information about the mecha, Earth’s defenders, the Zentraedi invaders, and Macross Saga setting, this is the book for you. Epic adventure awaits.

A Robotech® Role-Playing Game Sourcebook:

Transformable Veritech Fighters known as Valkyries take to the sky to defend the Earth.

BACK IN PRINT! Heroes Unlimited™ RPG, 2nd Edition

If you love playing smart games with heroic super beings in possession of strange and wondrous powers or technology, then Heroes Unlimited™ is the role-playing game for you. This RPG has unleashed the superheroes inside gamers for three decades and counting.

Heroes Unlimited™ RPG is probably most famous for rules and abilities that enable you to play ALL types of heroes while capturing the feel of comic books, and for being a thinking-gamer’s setting. All of this adds up to super-fun and epic comic book-style adventure.

11 Archetypes or Categories of Heroes, and another dozen subcategories including Crazy Heroes, those empowered by magical artifacts, Immortals, geniuses, and heroes without any super abilities whatsoever.

100+ super abilities, plus scores of sub-powers.

100+ magic spells plus Enchanted (Magical) Weapons and Objects.

40+ Psionic abilities.

Super-Vehicles, high-tech hardware, in-depth characters and more.

Create any type of hero and superhuman – aliens and mutants to super-soldiers, martial artists, mages and Mega-Heroes.

Heroes of the Megaverse® – A sourcebook that enables you to bring your heroes and supermen (and any of the HU2 sourcebook characters, powers and material) into the Rifts® and/or Phase World®/Three Galaxies™ settings, plus new powers, heroes, superhuman creation tables, and more.

And other sourcebooks.

BACK IN PRINT – Dragons & Gods™ – for Rifts® & Palladium Fantasy® – Available now

We sold out during the Christmas season, but this fun book, suitable for use in Rifts® (complete with M.D.C. stat notes) as well as the Palladium Fantasy RPG®, is so popular that we did a full reprint of it.

This is the 3rd printing of a dynamic sourcebook filled with big ideas and insightful rules for creating gods and their followers as well as presenting an array of deities and dragons. The dragon section provides insight to how Palladium Dragons think and function. Great artwork, too. Co-written with Erick Wujcik. With the Minion War™ soon to erupt on Rifts® Earth via Megaverse® in Flames™, you may find a book about dragons and gods to be a very useful sourcebook.

This expansive sourcebook presents detailed information about the mythical dragons and gods common to the Palladium Fantasy® world, but contains notes for use in Rifts® and is easily adapted to the Rifts® setting. It includes sections about Dragonwright, the Gods of Taut, Elementals, Demon Lords, dragons, and the forces of light and dark. Suitable for use with the Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Rifts®, Heroes Unlimited™, and Beyond the Supernatural™, or any fantasy game.

BACK IN PRINT – Rifts® World Book 18: Mystic Russia™ – Available now

This book is rich in monsters and magic based on Russian mythology and superstition. Rifts Russia is a land unlike anywhere else. The wilderness abounds with mischievous spirits, shape-changers and demons unique to Russia (including a comprehensive look at Necromancy).

Official Splicers® source material by Brandon Aten and Matthew Orr. Includes three new Splicer O.C.C.s (the Gardener, the Tormentor and the Geneticist) and their Bio-Armor and Bio-Enhancments. Art by Chuck Walton.

Official Palladium Fantasy RPG® – Zodiac rules and a type of Elven magic for it, by Carl Gleba.

Gen Con Indy – August 14-17, 2014

Gen Con Indy is going to be the premier convention event for Palladium Books this year. A large booth, special display, a ton of product including Robotech® RPG Tactics™, and all our role-playing games and sourcebooks, art prints, original art, and all kinds of good stuff. There will also be many Palladium creators available at the booth throughout the convention to chat and sign autographs, including writers Brandon Aten, Matthew Clements, Carl Gleba, me (Kevin Siembieda), Palladium staffers like Wayne Smith and Jeff Burke, and artists including Nick Bradshaw, Mike Leonard and Chuck Walton, among others. And it looks like there will be 70+ Palladium Books RPG events in the official Gen Con program. My heartfelt thanks to the Megaversal Ambassadors spearheading this project, as well as the Game Masters volunteering to run so many events for our many game lines. Awesome.

Palladium Books Gen Con Highlights:

70+ RPG gaming events in a dedicated area. More than 3x the number of games ever at a Gen Con. Sign up when you can and make us look good.

PDF downloads from DriveThruRPG.com

This is a great resource for getting out of print Palladium titles and other select books. We’ve made 90 titles available as PDF digital downloads from DriveThruRPG.com. This is a great way to try Palladium products and get access to out of print RPG source material. Some notable titles include: